An elderyly man who is deaf, immobile and suffering from cancer was jailed yesterday for a 31-year campaign of abuse in which he assaulted his four nieces and one of their daughters.

The 73-year-old -- who cannot be identified for legal reasons -- was told by Judge Patrick Moran that he not only abused a position of trust by assaulting his own niece but, by abusing her daughter, chose to target the next generation as well.

He was jailed for three years -- with 18 months suspended -- for abuse against the five women which stretched from January 1976 to October 2007.

The abuse took place from when one woman was aged just eight up to when one niece was in her mid 20s.

The court was told that when the family gathered for communal meals, the man constantly grabbed the girls' breasts.

The judge was told that the 73-year-old was assessed by one specialist and deemed to be "educationally sub-normal".

Judge Moran ruled that no details of the case be published which might identify the victims involved.